Ephemeral gallery of ephemeral messages with opt-in permanence

ABSTRACT

A server has a processor and a memory storing instructions executed by the processor to maintain an ephemeral gallery of ephemeral messages, where each ephemeral message is a photograph or a video. An ephemeral message is posted to the ephemeral gallery. The ephemeral message has an associated message duration parameter and a gallery participation parameter. An ephemeral message is removed from the ephemeral gallery in response to the identification of an expired gallery participation parameter. The ephemeral gallery is eliminated upon expiration of either a gallery timer or upon expiration of the gallery participation parameter of a last message posted to the ephemeral gallery. The ephemeral gallery is preserved in response to a gesture applied to an indicium to save the ephemeral gallery to produce a preserved gallery.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 14/505,478,filed Oct. 2, 2014.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to the display of computer networkdelivered ephemeral messages. More particularly, this invention relatesto an ephemeral gallery of ephemeral messages.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Messages (e.g., text, photo or video) delivered over computer networksare well known. However, one problem associated with such messages isthat they require an affirmative act on the part of a user to delete orremove messages from their devices once the messages have been viewed orread. As a result, in some instances, users refrain from spontaneouslysending many messages for fear of filling or cluttering a recipient'sin-box.

In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to maintain spontaneityand expand communicative content of messaging activity, while reducingthe device management burdens imposed upon a message recipient.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A server has a processor and a memory storing instructions executed bythe processor to maintain an ephemeral gallery of ephemeral messages,where each ephemeral message is a photograph or a video. An ephemeralmessage is posted to the ephemeral gallery. The ephemeral message has anassociated message duration parameter and a gallery participationparameter. An ephemeral message is removed from the ephemeral gallery inresponse to the identification of an expired gallery participationparameter. The ephemeral gallery is eliminated upon expiration of eithera gallery timer or upon expiration of the gallery participationparameter of a last message posted to the ephemeral gallery. Theephemeral gallery is preserved in response to a gesture applied to anindicium to save the ephemeral gallery to produce a preserved gallery.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The invention is more fully appreciated in connection with the followingdetailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates components of an electronic device utilized inaccordance with the invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates processing operations associated with an embodimentof the invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates an electronic device for capturing and augmenting anephemeral message.

FIG. 4 illustrates an ephemeral message destination routing interfacethat may be used in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates a system to implement an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates ephemeral gallery processing operations associatedwith an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates an ephemeral gallery data structure associated withan embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates ephemeral gallery indicia associated with anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 9 illustrates ephemeral gallery indicia associated with anotherembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10 illustrates operations performed in response to an ephemeralgallery view request.

FIG. 11 illustrates an account administration interface to establish anephemeral gallery that receives ephemeral messages from multiple users.

FIG. 12 illustrates an interface for opt-in permanence of an ephemeralgallery.

FIG. 13 illustrates an interface for opt-in permanence of individualcomponents of an ephemeral gallery.

Like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts throughout theseveral views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 illustrates an electronic device 100. In one embodiment, theelectronic device 100 is a smartphone with a processor 102 incommunication with a memory 104. The processor 102 may be a centralprocessing unit and/or a graphics processing unit. The memory 104 is acombination of flash memory and random access memory. The memory 104stores an ephemeral message controller 106 to implement operations ofthe invention. The ephemeral message controller 106 may includeexecutable instructions to access a server which coordinates operationsdisclosed herein. Alternately, the ephemeral message controller 106 mayinclude executable instructions to coordinate some of the operationsdisclosed herein, while the server implements other operations.

An ephemeral message may be a text, an image, a video and the like. Thedisplay time for the ephemeral message is typically set by the messagesender. However, the display time may be a default setting or a settingspecified by the recipient. Regardless of the setting technique, themessage is transitory (i.e., the message is deleted or otherwise madeinaccessible after a certain period offline or after a certain actionhas been taken).

The processor 102 is also coupled to image sensors 115. The imagesensors 115 may be known digital image sensors, such as charge coupleddevices. The image sensors capture visual media, which is presented ondisplay 116.

A touch controller 118 is connected to the display 116 and the processor102. The touch controller 118 is responsive to haptic signals applied tothe display 116. In one embodiment, the ephemeral message controller 106monitors signals from the touch controller 118. If haptic contact isobserved by the touch controller 118 in connection with indicia of anephemeral gallery, then the ephemeral gallery is displayed to the useras a sequence of ephemeral messages.

The electronic device 100 may also include other components commonlyassociated with a smartphone, such as a wireless signal processor 120 toprovide connectivity to a wireless network. A power control circuit 122and a global positioning system processor 124 may also be utilized.While many of the components of FIG. 1 are known in the art, newfunctionality is achieved through the ephemeral message controller 106operating in conjunction with a server.

FIG. 2 illustrates processing operations associated with the ephemeralmessage controller 106. Initially, an ephemeral message is captured 200.FIG. 3 illustrates electronic device 100 and touch display 116 with aphotograph 300 operative as an ephemeral message.

The next processing operation of FIG. 2 is to determine whether to altera timer or a message duration parameter 202. FIG. 3 illustrates anexample of indicia 302 of a message duration parameter. In this example,the indicia indicates a default of 5 seconds as the message durationparameter. If the indicia is engaged (e.g., through haptic contact),then a prompt may be supplied for a new message duration parameter(e.g., 10 seconds). Such activity (202—Yes) results in the acceptance ofthe new timer value 204. If a new timer value is specified or noalteration of a timer transpires (202—No) control proceeds to block 206.The user may be prompted to augment the ephemeral message. As shown inFIG. 3, a drawing tool 304 may be supplied to allow a user to add a handdrawn message. The drawing tool 304 may be manipulated by haptic contactto enter a message or annotation of visual media. Alternately or inaddition, a keyboard may be used to type augment a message. For example,a tap on the touch display 116 may result in a keyboard being displayed,which allows a user to enter a typed message.

As shown in FIG. 2, annotations may be accepted 208 in this manner.Augmentation may also be in the form of photograph filters. That is,photograph filters may be accepted 210. For example, a firstright-to-left swipe motion on the touch display 116 may drag a firstfilter on top of the photograph. A second right-to-left swipe motion onthe touch display 116 may drag a second filter on top of the photograph.Filter processing of this type is described in commonly owned U.S. Ser.No. 14/325,270, filed Jul. 7, 2014, the contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

The next operation of FIG. 2 is to accept destinations 212. As morefully described below, a destination may be used to identify intendedrecipients of a message or a location or “gallery” where one or moremessages may be accessed. FIG. 3 illustrates an icon 306 to invoke adestination list. Haptic contact on the icon may result in a destinationlist of the type shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 4 illustrates an electronicdevice 100 displaying a destination list. The destination list mayinclude a destination of “My Story” 402, where “My Story” is a referenceto an ephemeral gallery of ephemeral messages. The destination list mayalso include a friends or contacts section 404 listing various friendsthat may be ephemeral message recipients. Haptic contact with a box 406associated with a listed individual or story places the correspondingindividual or story on a destination list.

Returning to FIG. 2, after the destination list is specified, theephemeral message is sent to the specified destinations 214. Forexample, the ephemeral message is sent to friends selected from section404, if any. A check is also made to determine whether the messageshould be posted to an ephemeral gallery 216. If not (216—No),processing is completed. If so (216—Yes), the processing of FIG. 6 isperformed 220. Thus, it is possible to send a message to one or morefriends and/or post to an ephemeral gallery.

FIG. 5 illustrates a system 500. The figure presents a simplifiedrepresentation of a set of electronic devices 100_1 through 100_N, whereeach electronic device may be configured as the device of FIG. 1. Eachelectronic device is in communication with a network 502, which may beany combination of wireless and wired networks.

A server 504 is also connected to the network 502. The server 504includes standard components, such as a central processing unit 510connected to input/output devices 514 via a network 512. Theinput/output devices 514 may include a keyboard, mouse, display and thelike. A network interface circuit 516 is also connected to the bus 512to provide connectivity to network 502. A memory 520 is also connectedto the bus 512. The memory 520 stores an ephemeral gallery module 522.The ephemeral gallery module 522 stores instructions executed by thecentral processing unit 510 to implement operations of the invention.For example, the ephemeral gallery module 522 may include instructionsto coordinate the processing operations of FIG. 2. These operations maybe controlled by the ephemeral gallery module 522 or they may beperformed in conjunction with selective operations performed by theephemeral message controller 106.

FIG. 6 illustrates ephemeral gallery module 522 operations performed inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention. The first operation ofFIG. 6 is to determine whether a new gallery is needed 600. As discussedin connection with FIG. 4, designating “My Story” 402 as a messagerecipient results in a post of an ephemeral message to an ephemeralgallery. If a gallery does not exist (600—Yes), then a new gallery iscreated 602. Alternately, if a gallery does exist and a user wants tocreate a new gallery, then the new gallery is created 602. The user maybe supplied a prompt to indicate whether an existing gallery should beused or a new gallery should be designated.

The message is then posted in the gallery with a gallery participationparameter 606. The gallery participation parameter is an ephemeralperiod of time that the ephemeral message will continue to exist in thegallery. For example, a first ephemeral message posted to the gallerymay have a default gallery participation parameter of 24 hours. In otherinstances, the gallery participation parameter may be set by a user. Thegallery participation parameter value decreases with the passage oftime. Thus, in this embodiment, an ephemeral message gallery subsistsfor as long as the gallery participation parameter of the last messageposed to the gallery.

In another embodiment, a gallery timer may be assigned to a gallery by auser. The gallery timer may be, used to establish a lifespan of anassociated gallery and messages posted to this gallery subsist for nolonger than the life of the gallery. Thus, in some embodiments, allmessages posted to such a gallery will subsist for the duration of thelife of the gallery (regardless of posting time). In other embodiments,messages may be submitted with a gallery participation parameter. Inthese embodiments, messages expire and become inaccessible at theearlier of the gallery participation parameter or the remaining life ofthe gallery.

The next processing operation of FIG. 6 is to post activity indicia 608.Examples of activity indicia are provided below. A check is then made todetermine whether there is an expired participation parameter 610. If so(610—Yes), the ephemeral message associated with the expiredparticipation parameter is removed from the ephemeral gallery 614. If asa result of this removed message the gallery is empty (616—Yes), thenthe ephemeral gallery terminates and indicia of the gallery is removed618. If the gallery is not empty (616—No), a check is made for a newmessage 612. If a new message exists (612—Yes), then processing returnsto block 604. If a new message does not exist (612—No), then processingreturns to block 610. If an expired participation parameter does notexist (610—No), then a check is made once again for a new message 612.

FIG. 7 illustrates a data structure fir an ephemeral message gallery. Afirst column 700 may have a list of messages. Another column 702 mayhave a list of message duration parameters for individual messages.Another column 704 may have a list of gallery participation parametersfor individual messages. Observe in this example that the values incolumn 702 add up to 30 seconds. Thus, the ephemeral message gallery inthis example has four messages that will take 30 seconds to display.Further observe that the oldest message (Message_1) is displayed firstand will be removed in 120 minutes. In this example, the newest message(Message_4) will remain in the ephemeral gallery for 1320 minutes atwhich point the ephemeral gallery will expire, unless another message isposted. The arrival of a new message alters the gallery timer, but doesnot alter gallery participation parameters.

FIG. 8 illustrates an interface 800 with a section 802 that designatesavailable ephemeral message galleries (stories) and a section 804 with alisting of friends (available destinations for an ephemeral message).Observe that section 802 has indicia of ephemeral message galleryactivity. FIG. 8 provides example indicia of the time that the lastmessage was posted to the ephemeral message gallery. FIG. 8 alsoprovides example graphical indicia of the amount of time remaining foran ephemeral message gallery. Observe that the first entry was posted 20minutes ago and therefore has a full circle indicative of the timeremaining for that ephemeral message gallery. On the other hand, thethird entry was posted 12 hours ago and has approximately half a circleto indicate the time remaining for that ephemeral message gallery. Thisexample contemplates a 24 hour period for an ephemeral message gallery.Naturally, other time periods may be utilized in accordance withembodiments of the invention.

FIG. 9 illustrates an interface 900 with information on a user'sstories. Individual stories 902 have indicia of the amount of timeremaining. Indicia 904 of the number of ephemeral gallery views is alsoprovided. Indicia 906 of screenshots taken of an ephemeral message isalso provided. This information is significant since the intent of themessage was that it be ephemeral. If a message, recipient overrides thisintent by taking a screen shot, then the message sender is advised.

FIG. 10 illustrates processing operations performed by the ephemeralgallery module 522 in response to a request for an ephemeral messagegallery. As shown in FIG. 8, a user receives a list of 802 of availablestories. Haptic contact with indicia of a story is operative as arequest to view an ephemeral message gallery.

The first operation in FIG. 10 is to display the next message, in thegallery 1000. In the example of FIG. 7, the oldest message is the firstmessage to be displayed. A message timer is then started 1002. Themessage timer expires at the end of the message duration parameter forthe displayed ephemeral message. In the example of FIG. 7, the firstmessage (Message_1) is displayed for 10 seconds. Block 1004 checks forthe timer to expire. Upon expiration of the timer (1004—Yes), a check ismade to determine if the gallery is empty 1006. If so (1006—Yes),processing is completed 1008. If not (1006—No), processing returns toblock 1000. This processing loop is repeated until the gallery is empty.

FIG. 11 illustrates an account administration interface 1100 toestablish an ephemeral gallery that receives ephemeral messages frommultiple users. Such a feature may be used to facilitate celebrity ororganizational accounts where numerous authorized users are allowed topost on behalf of a single account. In one embodiment, a username,display name, contact email and contact phone are specified by anaccount administrator. An authorized accounts prompt 1102 allows theaccount administrator to add other users to the ephemeral gallery. Forexample, activation of the prompt 1102 may result in prompts for ausername, display name, contact email and/or contact phone. Alternately,activation of the prompt 1102 may result in an interface of the typeshown in FIG. 4 through which authorized accounts may be added.

Returning to FIG. 9, interface 900 has information about a user'sstories. Individual stories 902 have indicia of the amount of timeremaining. A user may desire to preserve a story. An embodiment of theinvention provides for opt-in permanence of a story. That is, while allstories are originally designated to be ephemeral, an embodiment of theinvention allows for one to preserve a story. For example, tapping onstory 902 may result in the interface 1200 of FIG. 12. The indicia 904and 906 are replaced with indicia 1204 and 1206. Indicium 1204 providesan option to save the story, while indicium 1206 provides an option toimmediately delete the story. Applying a gesture to indicium 1204results in the story being saved. The story may be saved at theephemeral message controller 106 on the client device 100 and/or at theephemeral gallery module 522 of the server 504. In one embodiment, thepreserved story is available only to the creator of the story. Thepreserved story may then be edited with an editing tool associated withthe ephemeral message controller 106 or the ephemeral gallery module522. Such editing would be in addition to any editing performed prior touploading the story. In another embodiment, the preserved story isavailable to followers of the creator of the story. In one embodiment,the preserved story is preserved in its original form. For example, astory originally created with a five second video, a three secondphotograph and an eight second video will be preserved in the samemanner. Individual segments may be deleted with the editing tool. Theediting tool may also be used to add sound tracks or textual annotationsto individual segments. Again, such edits may be in addition toannotations added prior to uploading the story.

The invention may also be configured to provide opt-in permanence ofindividual messages in an ephemeral gallery. For example, as shown inFIG. 13, selection of a story 902 may result in an interface 1300 withthe display of individual messages 1302 that comprise the story. Eachindividual message may be a thumbnail of a photograph or a thumbnail ofa first frame of a video. Tapping on an individual message 1302 mayresult in indicium 1204 to save the individual message and indicium 1206to delete the individual message. In this way, individual elements of astory may be permanently saved.

An embodiment of the present invention relates to a computer storageproduct with a computer readable storage medium having computer codethereon for performing various computer-implemented operations. Themedia and computer code may be those specially designed and constructedfor the purposes of the present invention, or they may be of the kindwell known and available to those having skill in the computer softwarearts. Examples of computer-readable media include, but are not limitedto: magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape;optical media such as CD-ROMs, DVDs and holographic devices;magneto-optical media; and hardware devices that are speciallyconfigured to store and execute program code, such asapplication-specific integrated circuits (“ASICs”), programmable logicdevices (“PLDs”) and ROM and RAM devices. Examples of computer codeinclude machine code, such as produced by a compiler, and filescontaining higher-level code that are executed by a computer using aninterpreter. For example, an embodiment of the invention may beimplemented using JAVA®, C++, or other object-oriented programminglanguage and development tools. Another embodiment of the invention maybe implemented in hardwired circuitry in place of, or in combinationwith, machine-executable software instructions.

The foregoing description, for purposes of explanation, used specificnomenclature to provide a thorough understanding of the invention.However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that specificdetails are not required in order to practice the invention. Thus, theforegoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the invention arepresented for purposes of illustration and description. They are notintended to be exhaustive. or to limit the invention to the preciseforms disclosed; obviously, many modifications and variations arepossible in view of the above teachings. The embodiments were chosen anddescribed in order to best explain the principles of the invention andits practical applications, they thereby enable others skilled in theart to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with variousmodifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It isintended that the following claims and their equivalents define thescope of the invention.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A system comprising: one or more computer processordevices; and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the oneor more computer processor devices, configure the one or more computerprocessor devices to perform operations comprising: maintaining at aserver system for an online messaging service a plurality of compositestories, each of which comprises a respective set of ephemeral messages,each composite story being viewable online by, responsive to a viewrequest from a requesting device, causing automated display on therequesting device of the respective set of ephemeral messagesnon-synchronously one after another in sequence on the requestingdevice; associating with each ephemeral message a respective predefinedmessage expiry time at which that ephemeral message is automaticallymade unavailable for viewing as part of its associated composite story;associating with each composite story a story expiry time at which thatcomposite story is automatically to be made unavailable for onlineviewing by followers in the online messaging service of a creator userof the associated composite story; causing display, on a user deviceassociated with the creator user of a particular one of the plurality ofcomposite stories, of a user interface that includes a selectivepreservation mechanism that enables receipt of user input to commandselective preservation of at least one ephemeral message from theparticular composite story; receiving via the selective preservationmechanism user input that selects one or more ephemeral messages in theparticular composite story for preservation; and responsive to the userinput, at the server system, permanently preserving each selectedmessage for access via the online messaging service, each preservedmessage thus being available to the followers of the associated creatoruser beyond the associated message expiry time.
 22. The system of claim21, wherein the user input indicates selection of the particularcomposite story, and wherein the instructions configure the one or morecomputer processor devices to, responsive to the user input selectingthe particular composite story, preserve the set of ephemeral messagesof the particular composite story.
 23. The system of claim 22, whereinthe instructions configure the one or more computer processor devicessuch that the selective preservation mechanism includes a save indiciumassociated with the particular composite story, reception of the userinput for preservation of the particular composite story beingresponsive to user-selection of the respective save indicium of theparticular composite story.
 24. The system of claim 22, wherein theinstructions configure the one or more computer processor devices suchthat preserving the set of ephemeral messages comprises preserving theparticular composite story in its original form.
 25. The system of claim22, wherein the instructions configure the one or more computerprocessor devices to perform further operations comprising: allowingediting of the particular composite story subsequent to its selectionfor preservation; and responsive to receiving user edits to theparticular composite story to produce an edited form of the particularcomposite story, preserving the particular composite story in its editedform.
 26. The system of claim 22, wherein the user input indicatesselection for preservation of an individual one of the set of ephemeralmessages of the particular composite story.
 27. The system of claim 21,wherein the instructions configure the one or more computer processordevices such that the selective preservation mechanism includes arespective save indicium associated with at least one ephemeral messagedisplayed in the user interface, reception of the user input forpreservation of a particular ephemeral message being responsive touser-selection of the respective save indicium of the selected message.28. A method comprising: maintaining at a server system for an onlinemessaging service a plurality of composite stories, each of whichcomprises a respective set of ephemeral messages, each composite storybeing viewable online by, responsive to a view request from a requestingdevice, causing automated display on the requesting device of therespective set of ephemeral messages non-synchronously one after anotherin sequence on the requesting device; associating with each ephemeralmessage a respective predefined message expiry time at which thatephemeral message is automatically made unavailable for viewing as partof its associated composite story; associating with each composite storya story expiry time at which that composite story is automatically to bemade unavailable for online viewing by followers in the online messagingservice of a creator user of the associated composite story; causingdisplay, on a user device associated with the creator user of aparticular one of the plurality of composite stories, of a userinterface that includes a selective preservation mechanism that enablesreceipt of user input to command selective preservation of at least oneephemeral message from the particular composite story; receiving via theselective preservation mechanism user input that selects one or moreephemeral messages in the particular composite story for preservation;and responsive to the user input, at the server system, permanentlypreserving each selected message for access via the online messagingservice, each preserved message thus being available to the followers ofthe associated creator user beyond the associated message expiry time.29. The method of claim 28, wherein: the user input indicates selectionof the particular composite story; and wherein, responsive to the userinput selecting the particular composite story, preserving the set ofephemeral messages of the particular composite story.
 30. The method ofclaim 29, wherein: the selective preservation mechanism includes a saveindicium associated with the particular composite story; and whereinreception of the user input for preservation of the particular compositestory is responsive to user-selection of the respective save indicium ofthe particular composite story.
 31. The method of claim 29, whereinpreserving the set of ephemeral messages comprises preserving theparticular composite story in its original form.
 32. The method of claim29, further comprising: allowing editing of the particular compositestory subsequent to its selection for preservation; and responsive toreceiving user edits to the particular composite story to produce anedited form of the particular composite story, preserving the particularcomposite story in its edited form.
 33. The method of claim 29, whereinthe user input indicates selection for preservation of an individual oneof the set of ephemeral messages of the particular composite story. 34.The method of claim 28, wherein: the selective preservation mechanismincludes a respective save indicium associated with at least oneephemeral message displayed in the user interface; and wherein receptionof the user input for preservation of a particular ephemeral message isresponsive to user-selection of the respective save indicium of theselected message.
 35. A non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumhaving stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a computer,cause the computer to perform operations comprising: maintaining at aserver system for an online messaging service a plurality of compositestories, each of which comprises a respective set of ephemeral messages,each composite story being viewable online by, responsive to a viewrequest from a requesting device, causing automated display on therequesting device of the respective set of ephemeral messagesnon-synchronously one after another in sequence on the requestingdevice; associating with each ephemeral message a respective predefinedmessage expiry time at which that ephemeral message is automaticallymade unavailable for viewing as part of its associated composite story;associating with each composite story a story expiry time at which thatcomposite story is automatically to be made unavailable for onlineviewing by followers in the online messaging service of a creator userof the associated composite story; causing display, on a user deviceassociated with the creator user of a particular one of the plurality ofcomposite stories, of a user interface that includes a selectivepreservation mechanism that enables receipt of user input to commandselective preservation of at least one ephemeral message from theparticular composite story; receiving via the selective preservationmechanism user input that selects one or more ephemeral messages in theparticular composite story for preservation; and responsive to the userinput, at the server system, permanently preserving each selectedmessage for access via the online messaging service, each preservedmessage thus being available to the followers of the associated creatoruser beyond the associated message expiry time.
 36. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 35, wherein: the user input indicatesselection of the particular composite story; and wherein, responsive tothe user input selecting the particular composite story, preserving theset of ephemeral messages of the particular composite story.
 37. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 36, wherein: the selectivepreservation mechanism includes a save indicium associated with theparticular composite story; and wherein reception of the user input forpreservation of the particular composite story is responsive touser-selection of the respective save indicium of the particularcomposite story.
 38. The computer-readable medium of claim 36, whereinthe instructions further configure the computer to: allow editing of theparticular composite story subsequent to its selection for preservation;and responsive to receiving user edits to the particular composite storyto produce an edited form of the particular composite story, preservethe particular composite story in its edited form.
 39. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 36, wherein the user input indicatesselection for preservation of an individual one of the set of ephemeralmessages of the particular composite story.
 40. The computer-readablemedium of claim 35, wherein: the selective preservation mechanismincludes a respective save indicium associated with at least oneephemeral message displayed in the user interface; and wherein receptionof the user input for preservation of a particular ephemeral message isresponsive to user-selection of the respective save indicium of theselected message.